chad sweet is a former cia director of operations. and ken baer is a white housed a virus. todd carmichael is the host of dangerous grounds. howard kurtz will join us. and economic diane swonk rounds things out for us today. "starting point" begins right now. >>> good morning. welcome, everybody. let's begin with developing news this morning. a tsunami threat to tell you about was just lifted in japan. the country was rocked by a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake. it hit off the coast of tokyo. the buildings there shaking. you could see some of the video showing the degree to which they were shaking. alex, what's the latest? >> reporter: it has been a very, very tense few hours here in japan after you mentioned a 7.3 magnitude earthquake striking late here in the day on friday. but just in the past 90 minutes or so, the all clear has been given. the tsunami warning has been lifted. that's great news for the people here. there's no signs of any significant damage. no reports of any deaths. just a few injuries at this point. we also have to keep in mind the nuclear power plan